William Bryan 1896 Democrat Presidential Campaign

Poltical badges

1896 presidential campaign button supporting the “Free Silver” movement which was also supported by William Jennings Bryan. In this campaign Bryan was running against William McKinley and the “Free Silver” movement was a central issue in the election.

The Coinage Act of 1873 that was intended to move the U.S. toward adopting the god standard reduced the money supply which raised interest rates and led to a panic that started a five year depression. Leading up to the election of 1896, Grover Cleveland’s monetary policy had been in support of the gold standard, while more rural, populist democrats favored “free silver” ie the unlimited coinage of silver at a ration of 16 to 1 against gold.

During the campaign, Bryan demanded the minting of silver to create new money as the way out of the 90’s depression, running an energetic campaign, traveling 18,000 miles to deliver 600 speeches. McKinley on the other hand, never left his porch at home in Ohio, but promised “a full dinner pail” - he won, with Hobart Garret, beating Bryan and Arthur Sewall: 7 million votes to 6.5 million. After William Jennings Bryan lost the election the United States government adopted the gold standard.

The first photographic image on pins dates to 1860. Abraham Lincoln and his various opponents used the tintype or ferrotype photo process. The first mass production of metal political buttons date back to the 1896 William McKinley campaign for president with "celluloid" buttons with one side of a metal disk covered with paper (printed with the message) and protected by a layer of clear plastic.

Since 1916, buttons have also been produced by lithographing the image directly onto the metal disk. A celluloid-type button is fastened to a garment using a pin on the back side of the button (in recently produced buttons, the pin generally fits into a safety-pin-style catch). A lithographed button may fasten with a pinback or with a metal tab which folds over a lapel or pocket.

One of the most famous uses of campaign buttons occurred during the 1940 U.S. presidential election, when Wendell Willkie's campaign produced millions of lithographed slogan buttons in rapid response to news items about President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

William Bryan 1896 Democrat Presidential Campaign

Regular price
$24.00

Poltical badges

William Bryan 1896 Democrat Presidential Campaign

Regular price
$24.00

Poltical badges

Quantity

Regular price
$24.00

1896 presidential campaign button supporting the “Free Silver” movement which was also supported by William Jennings Bryan. In this campaign Bryan was running against William McKinley and the “Free Silver” movement was a central issue in the election.

The Coinage Act of 1873 that was intended to move the U.S. toward adopting the god standard reduced the money supply which raised interest rates and led to a panic that started a five year depression. Leading up to the election of 1896, Grover Cleveland’s monetary policy had been in support of the gold standard, while more rural, populist democrats favored “free silver” ie the unlimited coinage of silver at a ration of 16 to 1 against gold.

During the campaign, Bryan demanded the minting of silver to create new money as the way out of the 90’s depression, running an energetic campaign, traveling 18,000 miles to deliver 600 speeches. McKinley on the other hand, never left his porch at home in Ohio, but promised “a full dinner pail” - he won, with Hobart Garret, beating Bryan and Arthur Sewall: 7 million votes to 6.5 million. After William Jennings Bryan lost the election the United States government adopted the gold standard.

The first photographic image on pins dates to 1860. Abraham Lincoln and his various opponents used the tintype or ferrotype photo process. The first mass production of metal political buttons date back to the 1896 William McKinley campaign for president with "celluloid" buttons with one side of a metal disk covered with paper (printed with the message) and protected by a layer of clear plastic.

Since 1916, buttons have also been produced by lithographing the image directly onto the metal disk. A celluloid-type button is fastened to a garment using a pin on the back side of the button (in recently produced buttons, the pin generally fits into a safety-pin-style catch). A lithographed button may fasten with a pinback or with a metal tab which folds over a lapel or pocket.

One of the most famous uses of campaign buttons occurred during the 1940 U.S. presidential election, when Wendell Willkie's campaign produced millions of lithographed slogan buttons in rapid response to news items about President Franklin D. Roosevelt.